“I—”
Sharp pain radiated across my cheek, and I stumbled away from the slap. My foot caught on uneven ground and I toppled, barely catching myself before my head slammed to the ground.
The blindfold was askew. I tried to grapple with it, to get it back in place covering my eyes.
I knew it was wrong, but I couldn’t help looking up. To my shock, Luke was right there. His hands were clasped behind his back, eyes downcast. For a moment, his gaze slid to me, then he looked away.
“Please, I’m sorry,” I stammered again. “It was a mistake, I didn’t mean it. P-please tell them I didn’t?—”
“Do not speak to him—” Luke’s mother spat, and this time her husband caught her as she stepped to me.
Luke took a pace back, still not looking at me.
Panic rose in my chest.
It was a mistake, but I didn’t know how to fix this.
My room was small and empty, nothing like the cozy, warm nest my instincts desperately craved, but all I wanted was to be back there now.
It wasn’t bad. Not like this.
I should never have tried to go to the service. I should have known I couldn’t be good enough.
All those heats, all that pain, all my attempts at penance so I could maybe have just one chance at being chosen…
At not being alone forever…
It was gone.
I’d ruined it.
The High Priest adjusted his cuffs, hand still firmly on his omega’s arm as he glared down at me. “Be that as it may,” he said coldly. “A sin such as this needs sacrifice.”
CRESCENT
Present - Anarchy
I ran from my mates.
A sob caught in my chest as I rushed down the hallway, needing to put as much space between me and my beautiful scent matches as possible.
They were everything I’d ever dreamed of.
But I was broken and wrong, and I didn’t deserve them.
How could I justify breaking them, like I’d broken Karma?
He’d been more kind to me than anyone I’d ever crossed, and I’d… I’d… I stifled another sob, speeding up my pace.
I knew they’d notice quickly, but this wouldn’t take long, I was sure.
My clothes were too big; the sleeves of the grey hoodie kept tumbling over my clenched fists as I hurried down the long hallway.
I heard a growl, and then an alpha came careening out of a cell, stopping me in my tracks.
I stared up at him, lips parted. He had a rugged beard, with intense brown eyes that seemed to swallow me whole, and his pupils were constricted.
His scent of thick, sour whiskey was overwhelming.